San Diego adjusting dozens of fees, including end of library overdue fines

A San Diego City Council committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to increase — and decrease — dozens of city fees and fines, including the elimination of library fines for overdue materials.

Fees that would decrease include residential parking permits, overnight parking permits and rentals of library branch community meeting rooms.

Fees that would increase include pedicab permits, liquor license applications and live entertainment venue permits.

Every three years, the city reviews the more than 300 fees and fines it charges to ensure they are fair and to comply with a voter-approved state law that limits what governments can charge to the actual cost of the services they provide.

The proposal, which is scheduled for approval by the full council on May 21, would increase 97 individual types of fees or fines, decrease 57 others and leave 109 the same.

In addition, 25 types of fines and fees would be eliminated entirely, while 12 new types would be created.

“These impact thousands of San Diegans and we want to make sure the fees are fair,” said Councilwoman Barbara Bry of La Jolla, chairwoman of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee that approved the proposal in a 4-0 vote.

Andrea Tevlin, the city’s independent budget analyst, said she is comfortable with the proposed changes, which would take effect with the new budget year that begins July 1.

They are projected, overall, to increase annual city revenue nearly $136,000.

Tevlin and Bry also praised city staff for thorough efforts to analyze each fee and fine along with how much the city is spending on the services related to them.

Fees charges by the city’s Park and Recreation Department were not included because an outside consultant is scheduled to conduct a comprehensive analysis of them in the coming months.

One of the new fees would be for lead testing by the city’s Public Utilities Department, which was conducted for local schools at no charge last year after a national outcry over lead in drinking water.

Head librarian Misty Jones said overdue fines are being eliminated to avoid cutting the poor off from a vital service and to boost recovery of overdue items.

She said fines actually do more harm than good by discouraging some patrons, especially those with low incomes, from continuing to use the library.

More than 128,000 library card holders are blocked from checking out materials because of delinquent fines, including more than 13,000 juveniles.

Jones said fees for meeting rooms would be eliminated at the library system’s 35 branches to encourage more people to use the rooms. But fees for rooms at the downtown Central Library, where demand is high, would be increased.

Fees for residential parking permits and overnight parking permits would decrease primarily because the city found a new vendor that reduces its costs.

Permit fees for pedicabs and live entertainment venues would increase because of greater enforcement efforts, police officials said.

Police Department processing of liquor license permits for the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Department would cost more because the process has become more complicated, officials said.